Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp's (THSRC, 高鐵) shuttle transist system and reimbursement mechanism for delays were the top concerns in a Consumers' Foundation (消基會) survey published yesterday.
Almost a year after its launch on Jan. 5 last year, the poll found that 62 percent of 2,660 respondents said it was unreasonable for THSRC only to reimburse the full fare when delays were for more than an hour, or to only refund half the fare for delays between 30 minutes and an hour.
An official at THSRC disagreed.
"The railway's reimbursement system for delays is quite reasonable compared to that of overseas railway service providers. Japan, for example, only reimburses train delays of more than two hours. In France, passengers are only reimbursed half the fare for delays of more than an hour," vice president of THSRC's public affairs division Ted Chia (賈先德) said. "Nonetheless, THSRC will still take the foundation's suggestions into consideration."
Despite those complaints, a majority expressed satisfaction with the company's overall service.
The second biggest issue that THSRC needs to resolve, 55 percent of the respondents said, was its transfer services.
Chia said that local bus services do not fall under the company's jurisdiction.
"THSRC's main challenge is that the company does not have the right to operate local bus services. THSRC is currently, at its own cost, providing free shuttle buses at Taichung (
Chia urged the government to allow private companies to operate transportation services, such as nine-seater buses, between the railway stations and the city center.
Another 45 percent found it unreasonable that passengers were required to cancel their tickets at least half-an-hour before the scheduled departure time.
Chia said the rule aimed to protect other passengers' rights to secure tickets and seats. However, he said the company would take all its customers concerns into consideration.
THSRC operated a total of 24,400 trains last year, carrying approximately 15.55 million passengers. Its revenue, as of last November, had reached NT$12 billion (US$370 million) and the firm was expecting to break even this year, Chia said.
"In December, THSRC's total number of passengers exceeded 2 million, up 20.48 percent when compared with November's 1.66 million, and the firm expects to see a higher growth rate in the next two months as a result of the Lunar New Year holiday," Chia said.
For the Lunar New Year holiday, Chia said THSRC would start selling tickets online from midnight last night and was planning to operate 1,500 trains with nearly 1.48 million seats available between Feb. 1 and Feb. 12.
THSRC's other plans for this year include the launch of a telephone voicemail system during the first half to enhance the speed of its service. The company is also in talks with President Chain Store Corp (
JITTERS: Nexperia has a 20 percent market share for chips powering simpler features such as window controls, and changing supply chains could take years European carmakers are looking into ways to scratch components made with parts from China, spooked by deepening geopolitical spats playing out through chipmaker Nexperia BV and Beijing’s export controls on rare earths. To protect operations from trade ructions, several automakers are pushing major suppliers to find permanent alternatives to Chinese semiconductors, people familiar with the matter said. The industry is considering broader changes to its supply chain to adapt to shifting geopolitics, Europe’s main suppliers lobby CLEPA head Matthias Zink said. “We had some indications already — questions like: ‘How can you supply me without this dependency on China?’” Zink, who also
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) received about NT$147 billion (US$4.71 billion) in subsidies from the US, Japanese, German and Chinese governments over the past two years for its global expansion. Financial data compiled by the world’s largest contract chipmaker showed the company secured NT$4.77 billion in subsidies from the governments in the third quarter, bringing the total for the first three quarters of the year to about NT$71.9 billion. Along with the NT$75.16 billion in financial aid TSMC received last year, the chipmaker obtained NT$147 billion in subsidies in almost two years, the data showed. The subsidies received by its subsidiaries —
At least US$50 million for the freedom of an Emirati sheikh: That is the king’s ransom paid two weeks ago to militants linked to al-Qaeda who are pushing to topple the Malian government and impose Islamic law. Alongside a crippling fuel blockade, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has made kidnapping wealthy foreigners for a ransom a pillar of its strategy of “economic jihad.” Its goal: Oust the junta, which has struggled to contain Mali’s decade-long insurgency since taking power following back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, by scaring away investors and paralyzing the west African country’s economy.
The number of Taiwanese working in the US rose to a record high of 137,000 last year, driven largely by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) rapid overseas expansion, according to government data released yesterday. A total of 666,000 Taiwanese nationals were employed abroad last year, an increase of 45,000 from 2023 and the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. Overseas employment had steadily increased between 2009 and 2019, peaking at 739,000, before plunging to 319,000 in 2021 amid US-China trade tensions, global supply chain shifts, reshoring by Taiwanese companies and
RSS